Homemade Granola

As far as I'm concerned, there is no lovelier aroma than any of about a 1/2 dozen of my favorite essential oils difussing in my home, with ONE exception; I love the smell in my kitchen when I'm making homemade granola!  I think it's even better than chocolate chip cookies!  I made some this morning and I'm getting ready to top my favorite yogurt with it right now!  

Homemade Granola

I am happy to share my granola recipe with you which I remember fondly coming from a Bed and Breakfast in California about 15 years ago when I visited there for a weekend. 

When I stayed there on a girls only trip with my very best friend, we just couldn't believe how amazing this granola was- served warm out of the oven with just a little milk over it.  The chef shared the recipe with us then and I'm so grateful because I've made it many, many times since and I still think it's the best I've ever eaten!  I'm sure a lot of granola recipes are similar, but this one really brings back the memory of that weekend many years ago. 

Here is the recipe:

GRANOLA:

Hand toss all these in a large bowl:

6 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)

1 cup coconut (unsweetened or sweetened)

1/3 cup raw seasame seeds

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 cup raw chopped cashews

1 cup raw chopped pecans

MIX: 

In a small bowl, mix these liquid ingredients:

1/2 cup oil (canola, olive, whatever you like)

1/3 cup water

2/3 cup raw honey

1 1/2 T pure vanilla extract

BLEND:

Pour the blended liquid ingredients into the bowl of oats/nuts and stir well until everything is coated.

Spread mixture out in 2 13x9 pans or large sheet pans with 1" edge.  It shouldn't be too deep or it

will take longer to bake, about 1" deep in the pan you're baking in is good. 

Bake at 325 F for 20-30 minutes, checking every 10 minutes at the beginning to toss as it's browning

and check every 5 minutes towards the end so it doesn't burn.  Add dried fruit of your choice (optional); I like dried cranberries or dried cherries!  Cool completely before storing.  Freezes nicely for about 2 months. 

ENJOY!

The Benefits of Honey: A Remedy for Sore Throats, Wound Care and More

Here is a great article about HONEY! I love love love local honey and try
to purchase it and store for the winter every summer! I'll have to look
into this New Zealand’s Manuka honey now!

The Benefits of Honey: A Remedy for Sore Throats, Wound Care and More

Strawberries, Raspberries and Currants!

Aren't these beautiful?  I just picked them in my yard and I can't wait to JUICE!  I don't know if they will make it all the way to the juicer - I can't stop nibbling on them!  Everyone's gardens here this summer have been very slow (too much rain and it didn't get hot enough until about two weeks ago), but it didn't seem to affect my berries!
Any suggestions on what to do with the rest of my currants?  I was thinking of making scones!

Classes coming up in Woodland, CA - July 21st

Mark your calenders and take a peak at the classes offered in Northern Ca. in July!  I'm so excited to travel to the Sacramento area to share more about Essential Oils and what a great impact they have made in my life and the lives of so many others!  Join us and feel free to bring friends! We'll have some great take home/handouts and samples plus drawings at each event!  Just let us know you're coming by sending a rsvp to essentialoils4u@hotmail.com.

Here is the Flyer for the Classes on Thursday, July 21st and below it -the class on July 23rd:

Johnson's Baby Lotion - Some of the Bad

I purchased some Johnson's Baby Lotion a few months ago thinking it might be one of the mildest lotions on the market; afterall, it's in the baby product aisle in the markets.  My daughter's skin is a little sensitive the last few years so we've been searching for the perfect after-shower lotion.  We've tried the ones her pediatrician recommended, but were not that pleased, so I thought we'd go for simple.  I mean, this is suppose to be lotion for BABIES right? So, after using it a few times, we decided we didn't love it either, but in midst of using it one day, I looked at the labeling.  I was surprised and recently took to the internet again to check it out on the safecostmetics.org site to see how it rated.  Here are the results:

Not impressive at all.  In fact, a score of "6" sounds bad in light of the fact that I know this is a average of the individual ingredients found in the lotion, which means many ingredients are higher than a 6!
Garbage pail, here comes more toxins!!
This was about the time I started experimenting with making our own lotions with natural butters and oils.  See more about our experiments and what we use today under Handmade Lotions coming soon.

Neutrogena Body Oil - some of the bad

So, here again, I'm checking out the ingredients of one of my favorite shower products and saddened to see the results.

This was a product I would regularly use before I'd step out of the shower for added moisture and a silky feeling before towel drying my skin.
My favorite site for checking out ingredients is the http://safecosmetics.org/ site. 




What I found was that the Body Oil shown here rated a overall score of "4".  This is not too bad in my opinion,



However, there are individual ingredients that do trouble me, rating much higher. 

Here are the results of the ingredients IN the product that rate quite high.  The Sesame Seed Oil is lower on the chart, rating a -0- which is GREAT, but between the scores of these "bad" ingredients and the oil at -0-, it makes the average score of 4 seem not so bad, right? 

Tossing this one out.  I love the feel of the oil, but I'm headed out to buy pure sesame seed oil and maybe mix it with Fractionated Coconut Oil and a little of my own Essential oil and I'm betting it will be cheaper too! No synthetic fragrances, no chemicals needed in a simple after shower oil!

Raw Class - Green Juice: A simple way to start

Last night, I invited some friends over and held a great RAW foods class!  No, I don't know a lot about Raw, so I didn't teach it!  A gal I've met a few times who just received her RAW Chef Cerification taught the class in my home!  She is a great wellness educator on so many levels- but I really enjoyed learning more about Juicing, smoothies, dehydrating, and the tasting was great! We made several juices in my new juicer AND a delicious raw veggie bisque in her awesome Vitamix!  Now a Vitamix's is on my wish list!  She says she uses hers almost daily; couldn't live without it!   Joline Wondergem was our instructor and if you want to see more of what she does visit her web site: http://healthylivingwithjoline.com/

I've been to another one of her classes last year and I learned so much- here are a few tips I picked up at that class and from the class last night:

1.  When juicing lemons, peel them first- it's ok to have a lot of pith, but not necessarily the peel.  Peeling also allows you to purchase non-organic lemons at a much better price (like from Costco/bulk).  Just hold the lemon and go around w/ a sharp knife, sort of peeling it, but not too perfectly.  The juicers can handle this better- the thick skin is a lot of work for the juicers.  The peel also changes the flavor- while the outer rind is nice (like when you are using a grater to just get the yellow part off for use in a recipe) the part right under the yellow is bitter and will change the taste of your juice.

2.  If you still go for coffee in the am, just be sure to start you body going in the am with JUICE first, then if you still must have coffee-go for it.  At least the first thing to hit your stomach to get you rolling was something very healthy!

3.  If you are juicing and adding fresh ginger- add it in the beginning.  Also, there is no need to peel it; just make sure to wash it first.  Ginger has such a stringy tough texture that it needs to be "pushed" through by other veggies coming into the juicer afterwards in order for you to get the most juice out of the ginger. 

4.  If you have thyroid issues, do not juice spinach, kale or swiss chard or other dark leafy greens, just go for other lettuces.  It's a idodine issue.  Ok, wish I had taken more specific notes on this issue.

Joline shared some great recipes and I can't wait to try some out!  One of the yummiest things we had were these dehydrated pizza crackers and a dip made from cashews that was heavenly!